​PICTOU, a seaport, port of entry, and capital of Pictou county, Nova Scotia, 90 m. N.E. by N. of Halifax, on a branch of the Intercolonial railway. Pop. (1901), 3235, It has several valuable industries, and is the shipping port for the adjacent coal-mines. The Academy, founded in 1818, played an important part in the early educational history of the province, and still enjoys a high reputation.